Funds are requested to establish a core facility for protein expression and purification. The role of the core will be to provide support for the production of recombinant proteins (on a small scale or a large scale) using bacterial and Sf9/baculovirus systems. The core will be supervised by Dr. W.T. Miller, and it will be used by all Science Tower. A full-time technician will be responsible for maintaining the equipment and Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells, for optimizing bacterial expression, for producing and characterizing recombinant baculovirus, and for large- scale expression. The facilities will include a 5L bioreactor for production of proteins in Sf9 cells and a 13L fermentor for bacterial expression. The ore will also include a Pharmacia Akta FPLC that was purchased jointly by the members of the Program Project in 1998. The centralized facility will ensure quality control and produce an economy of effort for the Program members. The availability of recombinant proteins will enhance each research project in the Program.